Thar Shaddin

Just be careful with who she treats with magic or even tells that she has it. Remember, it's illegal not to declare magical ability to the government and seek out a permit. Then, it's up to the government to deem her magic to not be a threat to public safety. --Niobi

In Marn, I totally get this. There, she is going to be exceedingly discreet with it.

However, Shim is where she has lived most of her life, to this point. If I understand right, the same applies there in terms of the law, but it is far less monitored?

My character's two abilities are both non-offensive -- and in fact one is only useful against magic. I think read about this, but forgot about it when I wrote her bio.

Would it be too late to add that she did obtain her permit? Or would the ability to scry be considered a threat? (not to public safety, I mean...but more likely to the lies of officials)

And, also -- do magic wielders have any inherent ability to sense or feel magic? Or does that require stating specifically you have that ability?

EDIT: I re-read that bit about not needing to declare, and the lack of any guards stationed in the town. But if anything else I should know, do tell me.

If she has the ability to sense magic, you should state so in her powers. Magic is very different for most people. Shifters for instance often inherently are "magic-wielders" but have no ability to sense magic. It comes in so many different varieties that a blanket statement that everyone who has magic can also feel magic wouldn't make much sense :p

You have a few options for your character as far as the permit goes. Since she's planning on coming to Marn, she can either hide the abilities she has (this is illegal, but people do it), or tell the Guard when she enters the city about it. Playing it out might be interesting, but you can also just skip it and say in character that you obtained a permit when you entered the city. If she's lived in Shim most of her life, she would be aware that Marn is very strict about the magic permit system. Scrying wouldn't be a huge deal to the Guard, she would probably just be asked to control it and would have to tell the Guard that she's not going to use it to spy on people. Marn has werewolves and such running around with permits. I doubt they'd throw a fit about her powers.

Not to mention they might favor her since she has her warding ability.

Okay, thanks Stella, that all makes sense.

I was thinking that because magic is all derived from the astral, regardless how much it varies in practice, that those who can use it might be able to "feel" when those energies are being tapped, to some degree.

But I was asking for future reference, and purposes of role play. Not an outstanding desire to be able to sense magic, so that's no problem.

While she has lived in Shim her entire life, my thought is that this is not her first visit to Marn. So it sounds I'll need to decide whether she previously registered or not.

My interpretation has always been that registration is one thing, but a permits to use, another. So, all magic users are supposed to register, but not all magic users get permission to use the magic.

I've also always interpreted townsfolk of Shim to be almost as anti-magic as Marnians. Possibly, worse. If you've ever spent time in a small town, you know what I mean - just some additional food for thought.

Registering and obtaining a permit are two different things. Everyone is required to register their magical abilities upon entering Marn but only those that want to be able to use their magic legally need to receive a permit. Now if you were going to register, it would probably be smart to apply for a permit at the same time so you aren't giving the government a means to target you. However, I can only imaging that the permit process is probably some overly-complicated and costly process in which they leave the individual waiting until the very end before they tell him if they are going to approve the permit or not.

Duly noted -- thank you for the input. I think I was thinking of Shim as something of a catchall for those who don't fit in Marn, for one reason or the next. And therefore less likely to subscribe to Marn's stringent views. And not from a "small town" sort of perspective. That somewhat alters my character's degree of contentment in residing there, if that's so. Though, I believe the lack of a guard presence still eases things to some degree.

I think it makes most sense to say she registered on a previous trip to the city, but has received no permit, as yet. And thus will need to be highly cautious and secretive in the use of any magic.

EDIT: And I should mention -- I do have a post in the works! Will have it along pretty soon. Largely open entry, if anyone else wants to join in.

If not, I have a friend who's probably going to submit an application. Assuming he does and it gets approved, we'll likely be doing some work together in Marn. And looking forward to running into whoever else is out and about!